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BOSTON — Boston will toast the World Series champion Red Sox with a duck boat parade on Saturday, Mayor Thomas Menino and team officials announced Thursday, giving fans an opportunity to revel in the improbable success of a team that finished in last place just one season ago.

“What a year,” Menino said at City Hall in unveiling plans for the parade. “From worst to first.”

Players will climb aboard the amphibious vehicles inside Fenway Park at 10 a.m. Saturday for the so-called rolling rally, officials said. The parade route, the same as the one used in 2004 when the Red Sox won their first World Series title in 86 years, will travel down Boylston Street, where in April two bombs killed 3 people and injured more than 260 others at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

The duck boats will go on to the Charles River for a time, which they did in 2004 but not in 2007 when the Red Sox also won the World Series.

The New England Patriots, Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins have also celebrated titles with duck boat parades in recent years.

Red Sox officials said the parade was not merely an opportunity for fans to thank the team but also for the team to show its appreciation to the city, and they expected most, if not all, players to participate.

“I’m very optimistic that we will get nearly a full boat,” said Larry Lucchino, the team’s president and chief executive.

Organizers said they wanted to hold the parade on Saturday so as many fans as possible could attend, especially families with children.

The Red Sox defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1 at Fenway Park on Wednesday night to take the series in six games. It was the first time since 1918 that the team had clinched a World Series championship in its iconic ballpark.